Read a full match report of the Heineken Cup game between Saracens and Racing
Métro at King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels on Saturday Oct 20, 2012.

Saracens’ decision to play this 'home’ Heineken Cup match in Brussels was on Saturday night hailed as a resounding success by the club’s director of rugby, Mark McCall.

A crowd of 18,121 – almost three times some of the attendances the club have played in front of at Vicarage Road – turned up at the King Baudouin Stadium in Heysel to see McCall’s side move five points clear at the top of Pool Five with a comprehensive victory over Racing Métro.

Even if large swathes of the 60,000 capacity stadium were deserted, there was still a genuine sense of occasion, with a sizeable contingent of Racing supporters contributing to the lively atmosphere having made the 160-mile trip from Paris.

The rugby was not too shabby either. Saracens picked up from where they left off from the opening round rout against Edinburgh and established such a commanding lead in the first half that they were able to comfortably absorb a period of intense pressure in the final quarter before staging a rousing finale.

“It has been absolutely brilliant,” said McCall. “I was asked on Friday night if it felt like an away game but it didn’t because we had control of the ground and it felt a little bit like our first game at Wembley.

“The players were excited to come here and we also played some outstanding rugby in the first half. It was a little bit frustrating that we didn’t kick on in the second half, but we were up against a good team today.”

The sole frustration for McCall was that, having stormed into a 20-3 lead at half-time through tries by Chris Wyles, on his 100th appearance for the club, and Steve Borthwick, his side lost their way a little after the restart and failed to clinch the four-try bonus point.

The raft of substitutions in the third quarter, including the withdrawal of the outstanding Schalk Brits and Neil de Kock, meant the Premiership side were unable to sustain the incisive and high-tempo play of the first half.

The decision of Charlie Hodgson to land his third penalty in the 58th minute instead of kicking to the corner when the lead was still 17 points also looked too conservative for what was a home fixture.

The French side, whose play, in contrast, was given fresh impetus by their substitutes, sensed the opportunity to grab the momentum and hit back with a fine try by Juan Imhoff, after some superb handling by Juan Martin Hernandez. A penalty by Gaetan Germain brought Racing to within 10 points, but that was as close as they would get.

Saracens rediscovered their flow, with flanker Will Fraser capping a storming display alongside the equally impressive Jackson Wray, with a try four minutes from time.

Hodgson reminded us of his class when he is on the top of his game. He mixed things up beautifully, taking the ball to the Racing line at full tilt, varying his distribution and peppering the opposition with a range of kicks.

McCall defended his decision to withdraw Brits, whose jinking play and offload created the try for Wyles, and claimed the lack of a bonus point did not take the gloss off another impressive outing ahead of pool-defining back-to-back games against Munster in December.

“It is a philosophy that we have at the club that we have outstanding players on the bench and we use them,” McCall added. “We will continue to do that. John Smit came off the bench [for Brits], who is no mean player himself. We understand that there are downsides to how we operate in rotation with substitutions, but we also know there are massive upsides and we think they outweigh the downs.”

As for the Brussels experiment, Saracens chief executive Edward Griffiths revealed the size of the attendance had ensured it was a greater financial success for the club than had they played the game at Vicarage Road.

Twenty per cent of takings were also donated to Belgian rugby clubs as part of a deal with local authorities for an “extremely generous” rate to hire the stadium, Griffiths said.

“It is not a case of the circus coming to town, putting up a big tent for one night only and then disappearing into the night,” Griffiths said. “We wanted to leave a legacy for Belgium rugby.”